January 8, 1988
I received this afternoon the report from my Task Force on Market Mechanisms. This task force, chaired by former Senator Nicholas Brady, was established in the wake of the events of mid-October, when the securities markets experienced extreme volatility, huge trading volumes, and a precipitous decline in value.
The task force and its staff worked diligently from the beginning, attempting to assemble the data and analyze the events that took place during those tumultuous times. In a period of just 60 days, they have performed an important task and produced a very detailed report.
As I told Senator Brady, the task force analysis is a significant contribution to our understanding of the events of mid-October. I intend to carefully review this report along with the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange studies and the forthcoming studies by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. After that I will decide what actions are warranted.
I want to express my profound appreciation to the task force and its staff for performing so ably under such severe time constraints.